I Feel Dead
by ClockwerkOrange
Summary: Zim is caught in a horrifying 'relationship' in which he is little more than property. Needless to say, he gets beaten up quite a bit. Feel pity. It's a short, depressing one-shot with some hideous and bitter ZATR. Reviews keep me from killing myself!


**[ClockwerkOrange's **_**FANTASTIC **_**Author's Note!**

**Right, for this story, I wanted to write something horrible. But, horrible in a good way. A well-written way. Not good, but well-written. ...Gawd, it's hard to explain.**

**Key points: No hope, no future, it will never end.**

**This focuses on ZATR gone horribly bitter. Need clarification? Some abuse there be in this story. Don't worry, Tak is fine. It's Zim that you're going to have to worry about.**

**Well, I hope you feel **_**ANGUISH **_**and **_**HOPELESSNESS**_** while reading! And remember, if you don't review, I'll kill myself. _No pressure..._  
**

**~CWO, Lord of Awesome]**

"Oh, Zim?" Tak called in a cheery, sing-song voice. "Get me something to drink."

Zim obediently stood and walked into the kitchen while Tak snuggled up on the couch. Zim opened the refrigerator silently and pulled out a soda can with an Irken logo on it. He carried it to the living room and placed it on the coffee table. Tak snatched it, opened it, took a sip, and then placed it back.

"Did you fix the communication system, yet?" Tak asked quietly, eyes still closed. Zim didn't reply. "Did you?" Tak asked, more quietly this time. She opened her eyes. Zim still didn't answer. Tak's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth to speak.

Zim's left antenna curled, and he burst into tears. "I'm sorry! No, I didn't! Please, I was busy, please..." he cried, covering his eyes to hide the tears. "I had so many things to do!"

Tak grimaced. "Who do you think you are?" Tak asked, getting off of the couch. "You are mine, dammit... You belong to _me_! _YOU ARE MINE_!" she shouted, and pulled Zim towards her with both hands on his collar. Zim raised his hands meekly in self-defense, and closed his eyes and tensed for the violent beating that would no doubt result from his... incompetence. Tak had been like this for... for months now. She had succeeded. She had taken his base... his mission... _him_. Now Zim was just a slave. No. Property. The only time he was let out of her sight was when he was sent to do errands... he had run into the Dib human once. Dib had inquired as to the reason for his long absence from school, and had paused when he saw the... state that Zim was in. Zim was infuriated when Dib showed an expression of... what was it? Pity? But, he was infuriated on the inside. Always on the inside. He couldn't let his feelings show. _Property _does not let its feelings show.

And when Tak was like this... Zim would try to curl up inside his own mind. He would try to escape the constant barrage of pain that had become his life. He had tried to resist, once, and had failed miserably. He remembered... and immediately shut down the thought. It hadn't worked. That was all he could stomach to recall at this point. And... and he had the scars to prove it. That wasn't even taking in account the... _indignities _that Tak had forced upon him. He was her property. If he resisted...

Snapping back to the present, he kept his eyes shut tightly as Tak punched him in the side of the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards. She grabbed his shirt, pulled him closer, and smashed him down onto the coffee table. He impacted the glass hard, causing a spider web crack to expand outward from where his skull hit. The soda can, jarred by the impact, fell over causing the liquid inside to flow out on the table and floor.

"Look what you made me do!" Tak shouted. "Clean it up!"

Zim half-rolled, half-fell off the table and clutched his head, which was bleeding slightly. He started to whimper.

Tak clenched her teeth. "Clean that up, or I'll do that again."

Zim sniffled and stood up. "No," he rasped.

Tak's jaw dropped. "Clean it up, now... or I'll kill you this time."

"Go to hell," Zim whispered.

Tak's expression softened. "Don't you love me? Who do you love, Zim?"

"Not you," Zim whispered. With those two words, he had gone too far.

"What..." Tak began slowly, expression hardening again, "What the _fuck_ did you just say?"

She began to walk towards Zim, who scrambled into the kitchen. "Leave me alone!" he cried, opening a drawer.

"No, Zim," Tak muttered. "You crossed the line. Property doesn't talk back to its master."

Zim pulled a serrated steak knife out of the drawer. "Y-you stay away..." he whispered, brandishing the knife.

Tak laughed. "Now, now, _Zim_," she began mockingly, walking towards him, "You and I both know you aren't going to hurt _me_..."

"Y-yes, I will! Stay back!" he stuttered, backing up against the wall.

_Now or never... I have to... end it..._

Tak walked closer, and the very tip of the knife just barely, and painlessly, touched her shirt. "Who do you love, Zim?" she asked.

_What am I waiting for?_

"No..." Zim cried, fresh tears flowing freely. His grip on the knife faltered, and he dropped it. It clattered harmlessly on the floor.

_What have I done...?_

Zim collapsed onto the ground and shrank back into the corner of the kitchen.

_She'll kill me for this... She'll kill me, she'll kill me..._

Tak sat down on the floor and narrowed her eyes. "Who... do you love, Zim...?"

Zim sniffled. "You..." he whispered.

"I didn't hear that," Tak muttered. "Now... who do you love?"

"You," Zim cried, curling up and resting his head on Tak's lap.

"Good..." she purred, placing a gentle hand on Zim's head.

_And it was true..._


End file.
